Ski Wear Buying Guide

Introduction

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Introduction

Choosing the right ski clothing is crucial to keeping warm and comfortable. It's worth thinking about outer fabric technology, how much insulation you will need, and where you intend to ski on the mountain.

Ski jacket

A ski jacket is a central part of your ski wear. It keeps you dry, warm, and comfortable on the slopes. You should look out for some key features when choosing a ski jacket.

Snowproof (as a minimum), windproof and breathable outer fabric keeps typical ski resort weather at bay. More adventurous all-mountain skiing requires the highest-performing fabrics that deliver durable waterproof and breathable protection.

Ski jacket insulation can range from a super-warm down filling and low-loft but efficient synthetic insulation for recreational in-resort skiing, to shell jackets with no insulation designed to be worn with warm layers that adapt to conditions encountered during more adventurous all-mountain skiing.

A hood helps keep you protected from the wind when on a chair lift. Many hoods fit over your ski helmet.

Venting zips are great for releasing warm air when hiking to find fresh snow or overheating your way through your ski first lessons.

An inner snow skirt (powder skirt) can stop snow shovelling up your back when you fall and keep everything locked down when skiing deep powder.

Inside, zipped pockets and stash pockets keep your phone and other essential items safe and sorted.

A left arm or left wrist ski pass pocket makes accessing modern swipe/beep ski lifts easy.

Ski pants & salopettes

When selecting ski pants, it's essential to choose a model that fits the specific demands of your skiing style. You should consider factors like waterproofing, breathability, freedom of movement, and comfort. Here’s our advice on how to choose the right ski pants.

Ski pants with waterproof, windproof and breathable outer fabric are ideal. Tighter-fitting stretch ski pants are popular and deliver windproof and snowproof protection with a warming brushed inner surface. More adventurous all-mountain skiing requires the highest-performing fabrics that deliver durable waterproof and breathable protection.

Warmth can come from low-bulk synthetic insulation for recreational in-resort skiing and technical mesh linings that manage your micro-climate for more adventurous skiing, to 3-layer shell pants with no insulation designed to be worn with base layers that adapt to conditions encountered skiing off-piste and ski touring.

Internal snow gaiters stretch over and grip your boots to prevent snow from entering.

Some ski pants (especially 3-layer shell pants) have venting zips that releases unwelcome heat fast when hiking to more adventurous ski terrain.

Ski pants should fit well and be comfortable for a full day on the slopes. Many ski pants have adjustable waist tabs that facilitate a custom fit that adapts to your comfort needs.

Zipped hand pockets are great for hankies and goggle wipes. Some pants have leg cargo pockets that can store piste maps, multi-tools and other handy bits. Pockets are good but try not to overload them.

Some ski pants have adjustable suspenders but they are all removable without affecting how the pants fit.

Different leg lengths are sometimes available, but most ski pants can be easily shortened by a tailor to give a perfect fit.

Ski base layers & mid layers

What level of ski wear performance do you need?

Ski Wear Waterproofing & Breathability

Making fabric waterproof is easy but without good breathability, body vapour condenses on the inside, and you will quickly become wet and stay wet. So technical waterproof fabrics that allow transmission of body vapour, keeping condensation to a minimum, are used in all outdoor and ski clothing.

Waterproofing, or water resistance, is rated using a 'hydrostatic head' test where a fabric's resistance to water pressure from the equivalent of a vertical column of water is rated in millimetres, giving a water resistance rating of, for example, 10,000mm.

Breathability is measured by the rate at which water vapour passes through a square metre of fabric over 24 hours. This gives a breathability rating of, for example, 10,000g/m²/24 (often abbreviated to 10,000g). Some fabrics, such as GORE-TEX, use R.E.T. (resistance to evaporative transfer) as a measure of breathability, with a lower figure indicating more breathability.

When describing a fabric’s performance, we often abbreviate the statistics further to 10k/10k – meaning a waterproof rating of 10,000mm with 10,000g/m²/24 breathability.

Our selection of entry-level ski clothing will have a minimum waterproof rating of 5,000mm with 5,000g breathability; mid-range clothing fabrics rate 10,000mm/10,000g with the best-performing fabrics delivering 20,000mm/20,000g or better.

For more information on waterproofing, head to our Waterproof Fabric Buying Guide.

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